College Football Week 2 Review

I'll devote a separate blog entry to Nebraska and have that posted on either Monday or Tuesday.

Well, unless you are really out of touch with College Football, you would realize that the story of the year so far are the East Carolina Pirates. In just two weeks, the Pirates have dethroned Virginia Tech by taking a page out of Frank Beamer's playbook (a blocked punt returned for a TD) and then in front of the fourth largest crowd in school history, knocked off West Virginia and Heisman Trophy Candidates Pat White and Noel Devine 24-3. Now, its only been 2 weeks, but it doesn't take much of a football fan to know that the Conference USA is not a college football powerhouse. If the Pirates are able to knock off North Carolina State next week they will set the tone for a possible undefeated season on their way to crashing the BCS party.

Should Ohio State be concerned? They trailed Ohio 14-12 in the fourth quarter before taking advantage of some Ohio mistakes and escaping with a 26-14 victory. Was the score closer because Chris "Beanie" Wells was unavailable for the game? Perhaps the Buckeyes were looking forward to USC? Well, probably a combination of both. You can guarantee that Jim Tresell will have the full focus of his team in practice this week but for Ohio State to have ANY chance of beating USC, they will need Beanie Wells healthy.

Believe it or not, Notre Dame has actually won 3 football games in a row dating back to last season. Now, the Irish didn't really show too many signs of improvement on offense, although Jimmy Clausen did throw 3 touchdown passes verus 2 interceptions. The Irish only mustered up a paltry 3.1 yards per rush against a San Diego State team that lost to a division 1AA team last week. Throwing statistics aside, the most important thing for this Irish team to do right now is to win football games, something they have done 3 times in a row. In what is perhaps the most interesting game of the week outside of USC-Ohio State, Notre Dame hosts Michigan this week. Now, Michigan has had trouble with their new spread offense, but had a major defensive improvement against Miami of Ohio next week. Look for a low scoring affair this week but in the end look for Michigan to win a close scoring affair.

What a travesty in the Pacific Northwest. In case you missed it, Washington trailed #15 BYU 28-21 with seconds left. Washington QB Jake Locker scored a touchdown with 2 seconds left and flipped the ball in the air in celebration. One official thought this was too much and called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for excessive celebration. Now, in NO WAY was Locker trying to show up BYU. He was just happy to put his team in position to tie the game. Instead, the referees make Washington kick a 35 yard extra point and it is blocked. the game ends, 28-27 Washington. I don't know if the referees will be reprimanded in anyway, but I think a suspension is warranted for the one who made that stupid call.